[Psalms 47:7] For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding [with all your art – ability – skill _music is read & played with skill & understanding to turn the written score into a flowing piece of music, an event].

[Psalms 47:8] God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

[Psalms 47:9] The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

So we are called to “Praise the Lord with all our ART” or “Praise the Lord with skill and understanding”.

It is essential that stories are “Interesting”

It is not enough that the story is interesting the storyteller himself must be interesting. (Himself or herself - we are not gender specific here.

If a story is not interesting then a story is “boring”. If the story is boring then the storyteller looses the listeners.

If you lose the listens then crowd control will be almost impossible & some type of corrective force will be needed to keep order.

If you are interesting then you will keep order almost without effort. It always looks “magical” when the same group of kids are very well behaved with one storyteller BUT almost unmanageable with another.

The underling fact is that the storyteller who is interesting will have the control. It is as simple as that. Back to Top

Interesting starts in the mind

Firstly the mind of the storyteller must be interesting.

Yes interesting starts in the mind of the storyteller not the listener. Develop an interesting mind. You know the scripture says:

[KJV] PRO 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

One of the best ways to have active friends is to be interesting. People crave interesting.

Do you know that you can develop an interesting mind? Yes you can. I suppose this is material for an add-on to this document.

For the moment one way to be interesting is to know & know about all the bible stories. You can’t beat the background reading & devouring the bible stories even if you don’t understanding all the meanings.

You see your brain – part of your mind – is a self-organising system. You load it up with info – in this instance bible stories – it automatically starts hunting for patterns & similarities & contrasts. Yes it will sort it out into a very interesting kaleidoscope of patterns & associations.

Add to the mix a fired up spirit full & overflowing with the glory & joy of the Lord God & who knows the wonderful & interesting mix that is floating in there giving inspiration & a constant flow of ideas & thoughts.Back to Top

Words Allow the Mind to See What Your Eyes Cannot

Intelligence is the ability to make finer distinctions. Words allow your mind to make finer distinctions.

You, the storytelling, take the bible stories – this why you should read them again & again in as many translations as possible to enlarge your vocabulary to get word power. You then translate the words into a format that is understood by the listeners & will allow them to see what their eyes cannot.

(Imagination – which fires the emotions which produces empathy which produces interest)

I will have to deal with another time. I have been sharing this type of stuff with lessons on “Thinking Skills”. If you want friends then be “interesting”.

Learning Storytelling is an art!

It is like the scripture:

[KJV] [John 12:49] For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

WHAT – I should say [the subject matter]

WHAT – I should speak [the actual words and expression should to say it – HOW I should say it]

THE WHAT & THE HOW OF THE THINGS I WILL SAY TO YOU

When you ask the Lord for help with story telling He will show you “what” story to tell & “how” to tell the story.

Jesus was the best storyteller. The power of storytelling is huge & the Holy Spirit helps us & opens the hearts of the listeners.

Later on I'll try to explain why the Bible is full of storytellers.

Jesus was a storyteller in fact the Bible says that He only spoke to the crowds with stories (or parables which are really stories).

Some of the stories were literally true and some were not (parables). He used stories to illustrate (paint a picture in the listeners mind) and so move the conscience of the listeners.

The bible story is the greatest medium we can use to teach children.

We need to get our children aside and tell them stories about the Bible.

We want them to understand the story, believe the story and remember the story.

This will form the foundation of love, hope and faith that comes from having the word of God in our hearts and in our minds. The main aim of a storyteller is to get the listeners to feel the story - that is to become emotionally involved in the story.

One of the problems today is that children, in watching television, suffer from senses overload with the result that they become *watchers* or spectators rather than participants in the story. This is great for spying but makes for dysfunctional people & we Christians are anything but dysfunctional by-standees of life.

Christianity is not a “spectator sport”

It's as if they take on the perspective of the camera looking at, observing, and not really been a part of the story.

When they do become part of something it is normally through a computer game and once again and not really interacting with real situations but surreal situations.

I always have a look at the new children’s shows – tele-tubies – vegitales or whatever.

I notice that a new cartoon uses supersaturated colours that almost hurt the eyes to keep the attention span.

Actually black & white used to easy create dark evil moods see Hitchcock – but it is harder in colour – there are a couple of TV shows that have managed this using a “dirty yellow” colour – the red of gore is not menacing in itself to get the idea of menace they use red with shock images.

It is very interesting to see the use of colour & sound in invoke “moods”. The images change literally thousands of times each minute.

You will be able to learn to use your voice – tone – volume - pitch & speed to invoke “moods”. More on this subject later

It seems to me that children have lost the power of participation because nothing is left to the imagination.

This is a challenge for the modern storyteller.

The modern storyteller must move the listeners’ right into the story so that they are not just spectators or "watchers" – they are living in the story [imagining the listeners themselves as the main character].

They start to live in the story.

I used to tell lots of stories. In my younger days whenever I went anywhere to minister I would always go along to the Sunday school and to tell the children a story. And to this day this is one of the reasons that I know so many of the mothers and fathers in churches who now have children of their own. When I used to tell stories I used to make the main character very similar to one of the children who were listening (if there was a group leader who influenced the rest in a negative way – I picked that one) because I wanted a complete identification with the character in the story.

The story plan is not unlike a preaching plan (that is a style of preaching that I like to promote)

The best stories present a character that you can identify with who gets into an impossible situation and one way or another the story unfolds & the situation resolved.

Now that sounds like a bit of a mouthful but really stories are about someone you can identify with overcoming problems.

Because good stories appeal to the imagination good stories must be felt. So you have one main person (animal or anything -- I now a great story about trees or rather 3 special trees) and you present difficulties and tension that has to be overcome.

You have to package this

You have to package this & put it together in a way that is interesting.

Telling the story is not the same as writing the story. “Interesting” starts in your mind.

It seems today that we have lost the art of being interesting. Many of us feel we are boring.

It is do with the low self-esteem that pervades our modern culture.

We are interesting. We are unique. There is none, no not one, like us in the whole world of time & space.

Look at the parable of the Good Samaritan

Look at the parable of the Good Samaritan or I should say the story of a Samaritan traveller who did good and noble things when he stopped to help a Jewish traveller who had been attacked, robbed & left for dead by the side of the road.

Notice that the purpose that Jesus told this story was to explain what a “neighbour was” – the story is about an unknown traveller & what happens to him.

Jesus told the story and it is a classic.

It is an actually not about a Samaritan but about a Jewish traveller who gets helped by Samaritan traveller.

"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead."

Luke 10. In 32 words we have been introduced to the main character, we have the specific detail of which road he was on, we have six actions (verbs) of going down a road, falling into the hands, being stripped, being beaten, they went away, they left him. We have one description (adjective) of him being half dead, and we have his problem, that of facing death because he cannot help himself.

It is still remembered BUT only if the modern storyteller amplifies the 3 Helpers correctly in the way they tell the story.

The judgement & surprise would be lost

The judgement & surprise would be lost if you just used the terms – Samaritan – Levite – priest without involving interesting background about them. By using a simile to explain the cultural perceptions of the day etc.

Jesus used the "rabbinical or talmudic" method of telling a parable or a story or an example in order to prove a point. The truth was taught by storytelling – painting pictures & illustrations by mouth - even the Hebrew letters of the alphabet (the shape of them) all tell a story.

[KJV] [Matthew 13:3] And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

[KJV] [Matthew 13:10] And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

[KJV] [Matthew 13:13] Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

[KJV] MAT 13:34 - 35

[Matthew 13:34] All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

[Matthew 13:35] That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

[KJV] [Matthew 21:45] And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

[KJV] [Matthew 22:1] And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

13:13–15 The parabolic method has numerous advantages: (1) Spiritual truths may be conveyed in everyday terms with which all are familiar. (2) Arresting stories are more easily remembered than abstract spiritual principles enunciated without local colour. (3) Strangely, Jesus also desires to conceal certain truths in parable, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah (Is. 6:9, 10).

The idea is that long inattentiveness to previous revelation has brought darkness to the eyes of many listeners. To them, the parables of Jesus create only a greater fog.

Paul used picture-less abstracts

Paul used picture-less abstracts (full of adjectives & adverbs) in his letters. But reading a letter is not the same as preaching a sermon or telling a story.

Parables or pictures carried Jesus’ preaching:

Ten talents

Prodigal son

Jesus told stories that explained the point in everyday terms.

The story is the best way that a teacher can communicate with people.

Jesus used stories all the time. His stories were about everyday life and the way he told them drew people in so that they could identify with the characters in the story. Storytelling is still in use everywhere you look. Not only on TV shows but also on TV commercials. Good storytellers know that stories always have an effect.

The storytellers golden rule is "give your audience the message you want them to get but package it the way they want" what is the best and most preferred package -- a story format.

People love stories. People need stories. You know that our children spend over one-day a week watching stories on TV. They grow up with stories. By the time you get to 65 you spent nine years of your life watching stories.

That's why people like gossip. Not so much because it is critical but because it is a story. People want to enjoy stories they like stories and if you want to communicate you need to learn how to tell a good story.

The package of story with the message you want to tell but in the way that they want to hear it.

Now this is a fundamentally different way of preaching.

It is definitely the way that Jesus used.

The religious leaders of his time use the far more authoritative way they called & challenged people to rise up to the standard they proclaimed [although by tradition they had always used aural stories to establish the word of God I believe that had to resort to raw authority because they were substituting the doctrine of men for the truth of God] --

Jesus went to people where they were by using a story and then lead them to where he wanted them to be.

One of the main things to do is to realize this

They are many wonderful stories that you can tell.

One of the main things to do is to realize that if the listeners can feel through their imagination and their emotions the solutions that the main character uses to escape from the trouble that he is in then listeners will remember and adapt this information for their own use later.

This is very exciting. You can help people by telling them stories and they can learn some of the greatest lessons in life. Jesus was the greatest storyteller who has ever been.

Give the people what you want to give them BUT package it in a way the people want.

When they listen to a story they identify with the main character and if the main character faces difficulties and struggle and overcomes them, then they identify with that character.

Children Need to Experience

This is why children need to experience the moral & hear stories about the “moral” before you can challenge them to correct & live the moral.

Achieve Three Main Goals

Teachers and storytellers know that they have to achieve three main goals.

They know that they need to get people to understand the idea, to believe the idea and to remember the idea.

Understand

Believe

Remember

When you want to teach something these are the three things that you must get across; the teaching must be understood so that it can be believed and it must be remembered so it can be used, if it is going to bring about change.

The same is true in preaching messages.

The preaching must focus on one theme so that it is understood, believed and remembered.

This is very important. You want your story or your message to be:

Understood

Believed

Remembered

It is essential to have this as the aim. The whole purpose and structure is to arrive at these three things.

People will never put your ideas into practice unless

People will never put your ideas into practice unless they understand them, believe them, and remember them.

The same is true of “little” people.

Stories help people understand, believe and remember. But stories also help people participate and join in. Stories have a wonderful effect on the listeners. As the story unfolds it activates the emotions and the imagination of the listeners.

These two work together to draw people into the story as active listeners and they help the listeners understand the story [or rather understand the theme or the point of the story] help people the listeners to believe the theme or the point of the story and to make sure that the whole lesson is remembered.

These two work together in the heart to stir the will & do the action.

If They Don't Feel They'll Be Bored

When you tell a story you do more than just tell a story you tell a story to people who listen. When they listen they join in. They join in through their imagination and their emotions. When the listeners’ imagination and emotions are fired up they feel the story -- they live the story in the mind.

When people feel the story they believe the idea and they remember. Stories appeal to the emotions.

If you want people to remember and to believe the truth behind your story you must make them feel. If they don't feel they'll be bored and they'll forget. Listeners always learn through feelings.

This is true of a congregation or a Sunday School.

Get Children to Read

This is why there is a push to get children to read rather than watch television. When they read their imagination & emotion is fired up and they enter into the story in a way that they never do by just watching. In fact to hold watching attention the images uses saturated colours these days & constantly changes & sounds come from all around.

The speed of the information download is so fast in order to hold attention the there is absolutely no time to actually participate let along understand – remember – believe the story – just keep them glued to the TV until the next add.

So we use the beginning of the story to create tension, we use the middle of the story to increase the tension, we use the climax of the story to focus the tension and we use the resolution of the story to release the tension.

People love stories about tension about conflict.

The reasoning is that we face the need to deal with problems and tension everyday and we want to hear and learn from others and the ways that they use or the things not to use.

The Lord Jesus was always telling stories.

He used this as one of the main ways in which he taught and communicated the ideas and the truths that would set us free.

Children Are Used To Stories

Children are used to stories they see them everyday on the television over and over again. While many don’t like the Tellie Tubbies the way they go about storytelling is very good. The voice off camera (outside of the story) tells what is going to happen then the characters in the story do the actions – say the events.

This is the way children are kept in sync & not afraid. The need for stories was there are long before television but the television helps increase the need for stories.

You Will Always Stimulate

You will always stimulate and satisfy your listeners when the feelings (imagination and emotions) are stirred by listening to a good conflict. A story without a conflict is like any lukewarm situation. It doesn't really satisfy. If you understand this basic rule you will always tell great stories.

Your story is a deliberate plan to produce emotions in the listeners. What you say and how you say it will depend on the strength of the emotions and imagination that produce the feelings.

The First Thing

The first thing that you have to do is to decide how do you want the listeners to react.

Then you plan the story around this so that you get the desired effect. You stir the feelings of the listeners. You do it deliberately and you have a plan to achieve this.

There are natural storytellers but I am sure that it is a skill that can be taught and can be learnt.

Don’t tell a story & then labour the moral point at the end

One of the things that many Sunday school workers do is that they tell a story & then labour the moral point at the end.

I think that a story should demonstrate the moral point that a simple question will answer it. In the example of the traveller robbed, beaten & left to die. Jesus tells the story & then asks the simple question “who is the neighbour in this story?” end of story.

So in our setting we would start & say I’m going to tell you all a story. Or “who wants to hear a story?”

What would you like to hear a story about?”

You will get a person or place or time – just bring out the underlying question or moral that the story shows & then tell it & ask the simple question at the end. This will test you as a storyteller.

People prefer to learn through stories. They like to identify with the winner, they like to judge and they want to know how to cope with lives problems.

Stories help people

Stories help people to understand your ideas, believe your ideas and to remember your ideas.

Stories produce audience participation.

They bring to life each listener’s imagination and emotions. A story is a plan to produce emotions in the listeners.

Preparation is the greatest part of telling a story.

You have to prepare your stories well. “Preparation, preparation and more preparation” Then all you have to do is stand up and tell it. When you know how to prepare the story it becomes easy to tell great stories.

What do children enjoy?

People enjoy seeing a person and trouble and then watching how the person deals with the trouble. Everybody loves a fighter.

People identify with the hero and they want the hero to win. Watching someone face trouble fascinate people of all ages.

The story is what happens when a person has a problem and deals with it.

A story must have a person with a problem.

One main character who solves one main problem. The basic rule is to use only one main character with one main problem. You have to let the main character solve a problem himself. You want the main character to solve the problem by himself (i.e. with faith in God).

You don't want the problem to be solved by someone else rushing in the last minute. Great stories with great tension are built when one character faces one problem and solves the problem.

One of the great Australian storytellers Clifford Warne says (the Scripture Union often sent Clifford around speaking – if you ever got to hear him you will have been blessed – he teaches great storytelling – Clifford has been called home to Glory but he left a legacy on material if you can find)

The accomplishment story shows the main character struggling to overcome all opposition until he gets what he wants. See David and the giant.

The decision story

The decision story shows a person the main character struggles with forces for and against which influence his decision. Let’s take the case of Pontius Pilot. When the judge decides guilty or not guilty when the girl has decide between poor young men and a rich old man. When the hero chooses between liberty and death these are decision stories. Decision stories show a main character struggling to make up his mind.

A person struggles to realise a truth of vital importance to living. The truth that the main character realises has to be of vital importance to make a theme story live.

Accomplishment

Decision

Theme

These are the three types of story. The first practical side of this set of studies is to look at the TV shows that you watch or the stories that you read or hear and decide which of the three types of story they are.

Is the story an accomplishment story? Is the story a decision story? Is the story a theme story?

Get practising on the use so that you can tell the difference. Make a list of the Bible stories that you know and show is the story is an accomplishment story, a decision story or a theme story.

Remember that aren't any new plots for stories just all plots told in new ways. And you the storyteller can find the best ways to tell the story.

You story will show a main character solving a main problem. The main character will are achieve an accomplishment, make a decision, will realise a theme and this action will solve a problem.

In doing this the listeners will feel the story through their imagination and their emotions and they will understand the point of the story believe in the solution of the story and remember the solution so that they can use it in their own lives.

Put difficulties in the characters way and show how the character overcomes them. The main character has to fight to get what the main character wants.

Maximum desire set against maximum opposition gives you maximum drama.

Here some types of conflict

Man set against men

Man against animal

Animal against animal

Man against nature

Man against Machines

Man against incorporations, kingdoms or governments

etc

There are many wonderful stories that you can tell. One of the main things to do is to realise that the listeners can feel through their imagination and the emotions the solutions that the main character uses to escape from the trouble that he is in then the listeners will remember and adapt this information for their own use later.

This is very exciting you can help people by telling them stories and they can learn some of the greatest lessons in life. Jesus was the greatest storyteller who has ever been.

When you read a bible story look inside it for the main character – the problem the main character faces & the solution that the main character uses. Tell the story.

One of the main themes in bible stories is “A LOVING God drawing people back to himself”

I have always wanted to build a “database” of bible stories using the indexes of

People

Place

Time

Type (accomplishment – decision – theme)

So far as I’m concerned it is important with children to build the mental database of the actual stories as such before majoring on the morals those stories emphasise.

Many morals that we try to teach children they have not encountered in their own life so it is hard for them grasp the abstracts of the moral.

For instance they need to know stories about the examples of greed before they learn about greed. What I mean is not ½ an hour before but days or months before. They need to identify with greed before they come to know how wrong it is & how to avoid it. The stories provide a framework for them to relate to & work with.

The law is the schoolmaster – the experience of wrong comes before the desire to be right – our fore-parents eat of the tree. We like to teach a form of preventative moral medicine but it is the word that brings light.

That word is wrapped in a story that wraps the thought & imagination before the Law works on the conscience.

I must admit that I am seldom understood about this concept but non-the less it is a reality.

In the same way children today are overloaded so that they are “watchers” not “participants”.

Children mostly learn by doing. Story listening, acting out plays playing board games and even playing sport all involve the mind is doing. The word of God brings light & Jesus brought the word through the medium of stories.

We can’t live an entirely cerebral life. We have to do to be.

Jesus' preaching was carried by parables or pictures:

Ten talents

Prodigal son

Jesus told stories that explained the point in everyday terms.Back to Top

Aristotle wrote that one of the hardest things for a speaker was to come up with picture words or an analogy. Mind you, he was not telling us the truth of God’s Word by communication is the same and the Tower of Babel hasn’t helped at all.

The first place to look for stories is the treasure chest of your own experience

You have 100's of stories. Write them out and CAPTION them. Give them a title and use them. The same story can be used to illustrate different points.

If you have read my paper on “how to bring your own testimony” you will see the same pattern.

You tell the story of your life with Jesus in 3 parts or stages – a 1/3 before your were saved – 1/3 about your life with Jesus – 1/3 about your expectation of the future.

This is unfolded as a story. You write this out to focus your thoughts.

I have heard many stunning stories when the preparation has been done. We use the format each Sunday in our “Open House Meeting” we have a section “My Life with Jesus” each week. It is very anointed & powerful.

Make yourself a set of ten prepared stories and title them. You can then call on them.

Get stories from these areas of your life. Become a great storyteller.

P - parents

I - interests

C - chores

T - television

U - university (Hard Knocks)

R - recreation

E - environment (work, home, holidays, camps, conventions, trips etc)

S - shopping

Let the Holy Spirit bring things to your remembrance

Take a walk or a drive

A Good Storyteller or Leader Is Always Observing

A good storyteller or leader is always observing even when in passive mode.

Often when people tell things of events etc I am scanning the information to see if there is a story there.

I remember the day when a brother in the Lord, another brother and I were on the Sydney hydrofoil. We had gone to Sydney to meet a brother from overseas. We were waiting for his connecting flight to Coffs Harbour.

We went across the harbour; my two brethren were engrossed in talk of fishing and a new boat one of them had brought. It was a shark cat - as they raved on about the twin hulls & fishing - of which I have little or no interest - I got a wonderful illustration of the dual nature of Jesus and how He has safe passage for us in life! How the twin hulls give safe passage across the river’s mouth no matter what the tide was doing.

Let the spirit help you to look at events with the light of using them as illustration.

Videos and movies - once again you will alienate most of the congregation by the use of crude examples.

What is the type of story theme decision accomplishment.

I sometimes wonder

I sometimes wonder what we would make of Jesus type of examples if we been alive in His day. He touched on cultural taboos.

Anyway there is no point of getting the congregation to shut off just to try to prove a point unless the point is that “they shut off”. If you think we don’t have taboos today just try to bring something new to an entrenched congregation or church.

Think in HEADINGS or 'Head-Lines'

Think in HEADINGS or 'Head-Lines' - like the way the OT is written -

Don't get bogged into details, use detail to enhance the picture - it is the picture that is remembered. The picture enhances the point of the message.

The Language of Appearance

It is important to get this idea because it is so different from other public speaking or writing.

When you look at the language of appearance that the OT uses [the bible is not written in a technical language – it was told & spoken – it is written in the language of appearance as opposed to a technical format]

It is like with your VCR you get a manual written in the language of appearance that shows you how to work it. At the work shop the technician has a manual that is a technical manual – if they sent you this manual you would be scratching your head even more than you do when you try to set the thing up to record a show while you are away.

You see it is sort of written in a newspaper style. One of the main differences is that most speakers start a theme and develop it much like thesis is developed. BUT we do the opposite:

Keeping the train of thought on track is the hardest - you must supply the RAILS for the story to travel along on in order to get to the destination you want.

How to Tell a Story That's Not Boring

In "How to Tell A Story that’s Not Boring" (I picked this up in my travels) Gardiner developed nine questions to test every novel or manuscript.

Adapt the questions to apply to the stories we use:

What does the main character want? If the answer is "nothing" or "I don't know" then I have a boring story.

Why can't the main character have what he wants? If the source of the distress (the reason the main character can't have what he wants) does not loom as a formidable challenge to the main character's physical and/or mental abilities, then the reader will become bored because there is no suspense.

What happens if the main character doesn't get what he wants? The reader will become bored because the outcome doesn't really matter.

How does my main character struggle to get what he wants? If he doesn't struggle, there's no doubt (suspense) about the outcome. Even Sherlock Holmes was not too smart too soon.

What additional hardships does your character face? Ever wonder why the detective and his boss never seem to get along? Or why the get-away car always has trouble starting? Additional hardships mean additional suspense.

When does it appear hopeless? The point of maximum suspense is when the reader can't see it is humanly possible for the main character to achieve his goal.

Does the main character get what he wants? Yes or no? The reader wants to know. That's why he's listening the story.

When is the distress alleviated? If by the end of the story the main character still wants what he wanted at the beginning, then the story doesn't have an ending, and a story without an ending is boring.

What is unexpected or surprising about the ending? If the reader is able to guess how the story will end (i.e. exactly how the main character will alleviate the distress), then he will be bored.

Practice on the Kids - get to know the bible stories even the one-liners!

The one-liners of the bible – what stories they unfold!

The some children I know put on a play a while ago. But it was a play with a difference – we all trooped up to see this play. We were confronted with a TV screen – what we actually saw was a video made by them acting out the story. Good in conflict with bad. It was about the soldiers of the cross fighting & being wounded & falling (all boys) and the angle/nurses swooping fearlessly into the fray mending them (all girls).

Telling Bible Stories – you need to keep the Bible setting

When telling bible stories don’t change the setting of the story if you want to tell another similitude in another setting or time or culture then do so, but make it a different story.

Don’t change a bible story. You can tell another story to illustrate the point or tell a similar story in another setting but don’t change the actual bible story. The stories of the bible are in the bible for a good reason.

Retell tell them in a different setting and refer them to the bible story but leave the bible story in the bible setting.

The Art of Storytelling Continued 1

A Prophet Tells a King a Story

One of the best-known and most unusual unlikely murderers in history of the world would have to be King David.

He had the full favour of God and yet he couldn't wait to do his own thing and in the course of this he committed murder. David murdered one of his own best fighting men, a man called Uriah. Uriah was a long-time friend who had been with David through thick & thin.

David sends him into the frontline of the battle and has him killed. Uriah has no way of escape. Why did David, the writer of palms, the lover of God, do this? King David had got the wife of his best friend pregnant and is now in trouble so he organises the wife's husband to be murdered. He can now safely marry her.

The prophet gets the job of making King David face-up to his crime and the murder.

How do you get a famous & powerful King to face up to his crimes?

The prophet Nathan plans a well-known spiritual line of attack. How does he do this? He tells the King (a shepherd king) a sheep story.

He told the writer (the shepherd king) of the most famous sheep story ever told, that is the 23rd psalm, a sheep story -- a story about sheep and the people who look after them.

There were once two men. One was a rich man and one was a very poor man. (Already a conflict – rich/poor) The rich man had many herds and flocks. He had many sheep. The poor man had one little Lamb that he had nursed and turned into a pet.

This pet was loved by his whole family. The rich man had a visitor and instead of taking one of his own sheep to put on and cook for tea, he took the lamb that belonged to the poor man.

He killed the lamb and served it up for tea.

David heard this story and got very angry. He shouted out "the man who has done this deserves to die". Nathan agreed and said "yes he does deserve to die" and then he added "and you are that man"

King David was done by the truth and sank back down. Nathan then told him of God's judgement on him.

This is a story that is behind Psalm 53. Because David became aware of his crime & sin he could call out to God to have mercy on him love him and forgive him.

Nathan strikes hard at the king's conscience by using a simple story.

Laying Down Delayed Action Depth Charges

Why did he use a story? People automatically go on guard when you start to accuse them or to challenge them.

But they lift up their guard when they start to listen to a story and get drawn into it. A story with a “hidden” meaning is like having an operation when you are unconscious.

I have always called this “laying down depth charges" -- the damage is being done without the listener being completely aware of it.